Array
It was hardly a coincidence that at the precise moment John Harbaugh arrived at his table for a scheduled media session on Monday morning, Lamar Jackson was suddenly trending on Twitter.
Talk about breaking news.
Through a series of tweets, the franchise-tagged quarterback revealed that he demanded in early March that the Baltimore Ravens trade him.
What a trap. Jackson, locked in a contract stalemate with the Ravens and apparently attracting little, if any, interest on the market, decided to put the coach on the spot by dropping the bomb when Harbaugh had no choice but to publicly address the matter in the moment.
“I haven’t seen the tweet,” Harbaugh said. “It’s an ongoing process. I’m following it very closely, just like everybody else is here. Looking forward to a resolution.”
That’s optimistic, which is what we’ve heard from Harbaugh all along. During a half-hour window at the NFL annual league meeting that featured AFC coaches speaking Monday, Harbaugh handled it with aplomb, saying everything he could have to put the right face and positive tone on a trying situation that has left the Ravens and their quarterback stuck in a proverbial ditch.
OPINION:For Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, it’s well past time to hire an agent – so don’t wait any longer
Harbaugh declared that Jackson “is my guy,” that they are in the lab constructing an offense with new coordinator Todd Monken that still revolves around the league’s MVP in 2019. The coach expressed his love for Jackson and reiterated his faith that the situation will be resolved amicably. He maintained that he expects Jackson will be the Week 1 starter for the Ravens. And he doesn’t foresee any ill will from the contract talks would linger when Jackson is back in the fold, signed, sealed and delivered.
No, there was nothing with the messages Harbaugh delivered that could be construed as any type of slight, knock or diss of his quarterback.
It’s just that whatever Harbaugh said didn’t quite square with the tweets from Jackson.
